In August, I reviewed Huawei's Ascend Mate phablet and was pleasantly surprised by what the device could do. I later got a chance to test-drive the brand's flagship super-slim Ascend P6 and was again impressed with what the Chinese manufacturer was achieving.
So when I was asked to review my first tablet from Huawei, I was keen to see if the brand's tablet range had the same punch as its smartphone offerings.
The company describes its fourth-generation Huawei MediaPad 10 Link HD as being ideal for entertainment lovers. "We have created the Huawei MediaPad 10 Link to be extraordinary - to excel in all of the entertainment capabilities, including speed, power, Web browsing, and high-definition display and audio, and packaging it all in a sleek and compact body," says Larking Huang, country director for Huawei Device SA.
Look and feel
My first impression of the MediaPad was that it looks quite a bit like some of the earliest versions of Apple's iPad. There are several differences, though.
The device measures in at a slim 9.9mm in thickness and weighs 640g, which was a little heavier than I expected. The front has no physical buttons - just the front-facing camera and the Huawei logo, while the back features a dual-tone aluminium-alloy and white plastic finish. Despite my best efforts to keep this white strip of plastic clean, with general use, it ended up looking a little grubby.
The MediaPad's two speakers are located at the back of the device, which proved one of the device's redeeming features, in my book. Even when placed on a flat surface, the Digital Dolby Plus surround sound technology speakers produced really impressive audio.
The 10.1-inch, 1 280x800 high-definition IPS full-view-angle display appeared a little washed out to me. The colours looked dull and, even when the display is on full brightness, you are going to have some trouble in direct sunlight.
Interface/performance
The MediaPad 10 Link runs on Android 4.1 Jellybean, overlaid with the brand's custom Emotion UI. While the interface is familiar and easy to navigate, and Jellybean is the most popular version of the Android platform, I can't understand why Huawei did not kit the device out with the latest version of the Android operating system.
The device lacks the standard app and widget listing page; instead, all apps are listed on the various home screens, much like the format on iOS. Users are able to move these apps into different folders, depending on preference and use.
The MediPad Link is powered by a K3v2 Cortex-A9 1.2GHz quad-core processor and a 16-core GPU, with 1GB of memory. The mobile device will be available in three versions - 8GB, 16GB or 32GB - with a SD card slot supporting up to 32GB. The tablet is available in 3G, LTE and WiFi versions. I experienced some trouble actually connecting to WiFi networks, having to switch the WiFi on and off and reconnect several times before I got it right. Some versions of the device also feature a cellular option, meaning users can make calls using the MediaPad if they have the right SIM card.
Performance/features
When I am given a product to review, I leave my personal gadgets at home and use the review unit to do everything I am required to do on a typical working day. With the MediaPad Link, on some occasions, I wished I hadn't opted to do so.
Performance wise, I had several issues. Browsing the Internet, on Chrome or the standard browser, and using the touch-screen worked well enough, but the device stuttered a little when playing games.
The fact that the tablet comes standard with Kingsoft Office Suite, which features Office programs like Word and PowerPoint, was a huge plus for me. Actually using this software was less impressive. I am by no means a speedy typist, but I experienced a significant lag when typing on the device. I would type a full sentence and then have to wait some time before the words actually appeared on the screen, which was very frustrating.
And if you plan on taking any pictures with this device, I'd advise you don't. The 3MP rear camera is mediocre, as is the 0.3MP front-facing camera. And there is no flash, so attempting to take photos or record video in dim lighting is near impossible.
The tablet ships with Android Movie Studio for video editing, which allows users to record their own videos and tweak them, but the camera may hold you back here. That said, watching videos not created on this device was a pleasant experience, thanks to the 1080p full HD video and the above-mentioned stellar audio performance.
As a journalist, I was pleased to see that Huawei included a Sound Recording application on the MediaPad Link, but you cannot record audio and use other applications at the same time, which means that when the tablet is being used as a voice recorder, it is ONLY a voice recorder.
Other apps on the device include the basic Google offerings - Play, Search, Mail, YouTube - as well as a DLNA file-sharing app, notes app and a backup feature. Some apps took a little long to load, but once they were loaded, they ran pretty well. The Li-Po 6600mAh battery promises 10 hours' of usage without any trouble and it delivered about that, even with extensive use.
In a nutshell
At a cost of between R3 000 and R4 000, the 10-inch tablet is priced well below its competitors.
Which is probably because much of what Huawei has packed into the device fails to match up to what is offered by some of the more established consumer electronics brands.
If you are looking for a tablet in this price range and are only keen to use it to watch videos or browse the Web, then this device is a solid option. But if you want do something other than watch videos; you may want to take a look at some of the seven- or eight-inch devices on the market.
Share